New Delhi, 6 December The country’s largest airline IndiGo has now approached the Supreme Court regarding the massive cancellation of flights, Supreme Court lawyer Narendra Mishra has written a letter to the Chief Justice (CJI) demanding suo motu cognizance of this entire crisis and immediate intervention in the matter, The petition filed through the letter said that due to cancellation of more than 1,000 flights and serious delays by IndiGo in the last few days, lakhs of passengers got stuck at airports across the country, which has created a kind of humanitarian crisis,
Mishra has appealed to the Supreme Court for immediate intervention, calling this a serious violation of the fundamental rights of passengers, especially Article 21 (right to life and dignity). In this detailed petition sent by lawyer Narendra Mishra, it has been said that IndiGo flights across the country remained disrupted for the fourth consecutive day (5 December 2025). The airline’s on-time performance in six major metro cities fell by 8.5 percent. Thousands of passengers (including the elderly, children, disabled and people suffering from illness) were stranded at airports for hours.
Even basic facilities like food, rest, clothes, medicines and accommodation were not provided at the airports, while the airline itself has admitted that it did not have adequate arrangements. In many cases, even emergency medical needs were ignored. The petition states that IndiGo made serious lapses in implementing the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) Phase-2. This norm was implemented keeping in mind the safety and fatigue of the pilots, but due to wrong planning and rostering of the airline, the entire operation collapsed. In the petition, it has been described as serious mismanagement and injustice to the passengers.
On one hand, people are stranded at the airport after thousands of flights have been cancelled, while on the other hand, ticket prices have also suddenly increased. The example given in the petition is that the ticket price in Mumbai-Delhi sector reached Rs 50,000. This was described as open exploitation of passengers. The petition alleged that DGCA and the Civil Aviation Ministry could not handle the situation in time. Although DGCA later gave temporary relaxation in some rules, the letter said that this relief was given when the crisis was at its peak.
The petition asks whether the humanitarian crisis caused by large-scale flight cancellations is a violation of Article 21? Can this lapse by a private airline be considered a violation of the fundamental rights of passengers? Can DGCA give temporary relaxation in FDTL rules in such a situation? Did the ministry and DGCA default in their legal duties? Can the Supreme Court issue guidelines in public interest?
The petition has given four main reasons for taking suo motu cognizance from the court, which include violation of Article 21 (lack of food, water, medicine, security), failure of regulatory bodies, public interest and national importance, accountability and compensation. In the petition, a demand has been made from the Supreme Court to immediately take suo motu cognizance of the matter and accept it as a PIL. A special bench should be formed and the hearing should be conducted immediately. Indigo should be ordered to stop arbitrary cancellations, resume services in a safe manner and provide free alternative arrangements to all stranded passengers.
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